Re: Re: Need Help with a Settlement... One would think. lol Assuming the debt you've been talking about ($8,000) is part of the $23,000, and that you deal it away, you'll be down to $15,000. This is doable Webdog. You don't want to file BK only as a last resort. Basically what happened is the CA decided to jack the settlement up a little. I'd still take the deal. It's still less than 50%. However, now that they've jacked up the amount I'd tell em you'll agree if the OC will delete the TL. He'll either reject the idea outright, or call you back and say "they won't do it. This tells you that they just made it up. Then I'd put my settlement letter together, (you don't need an atty.) for the original amount and fax it off. Then see what they say. If they don't agree make up a detailed explanation as to everything that's happened and copies of any doc's. Send it to the OC and tell them you're trying to settle this "misunderstanding" but you CANNOT and WILL NOT deal with such an unprofessional operation. If you (the OC) will withdraw the account from the CA and delete the TL you'd be happy to pay it. Make this go away WD. You'll be almost half way home. Good luck. Let us know what happens.
Re: Re: Need Help with a Settlement... I'm not sure if the offer was never there, or the CA just felt like tacking on $279.49 for their trouble... In any event, should I now hold out for them to contact me? or should I just get the paperwork in order and just pay them off?
Re: Re: Re: Need Help with a Settlement... Is the total balance $8,398.87? If it is, then the settlement offer is exactly 45% of that. That means the collector sent the settlement offer to a supervisor for approval, and the supervisor said, "We will not accept less than 45%. Tell him he needs to pay an extra..." Either that or another billing cycle passed and another months interest was tacked on.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Need Help with a Settlement... Mycoft: I think you hit it on the head... the ballance is something around $8,300... So should I cave in and pay up after I have them sign papers, or should I still try and contact Citibank and see what they say?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Need Help with a Settlement... It's a very good offer, I think you should take it. When I was in collections, my average settlement was 65%. In the three years I did it, I can count on one hand the number of times I went as low as 45%. Get the settlement offer in writing. While I never saw a collector make a settlement offer in bad faith, I have seen screw ups. Having that letter in your own records along with proof of payment (money order receipt, canceled check, whatever) guarantees there will be no misunderstandings later. I also think you should use their settlement form. They're a collection company, they do settlements all the time, they already have a form for it that they can just fill in the account number, dollar amount and date, and they can fax it over to you in moments. If you want to have your attorney review it, fine, but their form will be on their company letterhead. Or maybe I'm being paranoid on that last part. Also keep in mind these things have a deadline. I've seen a lot of these settlement negotiations go down the toilet because the debtor waited to the last moment to pay it. Good luck!
